Uzumaki Winter
by Silent Angel
Summary: [Chapter Two] When such an explosion occurs, the chakra produced can drive the survivors mad. Those who live must fight both this madness and the loss of the world as they know it or face their destruction.
1. I

Chapter One

The window rattled ominously as the chakra driven winds flew past, carrying what seemed to be an entire village's worth of dirt and gravel past. The larger stones nicked the once smooth glass, making it weaker in some sections. Soon, Sasuke thought, he would have to move to another room. He tilted his head slightly, glancing out at the storm. The whirlwind of sand, water, and, on occasion, fire had not let up once since the day _that man_ had died along with one he might once have called a friend. The pencil in his hand snapped and his eyes flashed red, but he calmed himself almost instantly. The wind would be gone soon – moved on to bother someone else – and then he could forget the troublesome memories it carried.

The black-haired missing-nin scratched his shoulder absently. It was merely a habit. No matter how high his anger flared, the curse seal would never spread out and consume him again, though not because of anything the teams sent to rescue him might have done. Orochimaru had removed it himself, having found someone he would rather go after. Someone who was smart enough to steal the secrets of the sharingan after Itachi's death.

There it went again – the red gleam in his eye burning with all the hate he still felt for that man. Sasuke scowled, pushing down his rage once more and settling himself down to begin writing. Yes the seal was gone, but only so that Orochimaru could trade his body to another group of people in return for their aid in the climax of the war with Konoha.

Sasuke's letter was important to everyone on the side of the Sound, which precisely why he was giving it to the Uzumaki – the winds that now traveled the lands. Through some tie the chakra driving the winds still had to the dead boy's body, the Uzumaki could always be counted on to help friends of Naruto's. Sasuke wasn't sure what he counted as, but hoped the winds would recognize his attempts to warn Konoha about something disturbing he'd found not too long ago. Orochimaru had been there, so he already knew, so it wasn't as if Sasuke could be killed for trying to hide information. However, giving it to Konoha was treason, which was why he chose to rely on the Uzumaki.

_Tsunade-sama,_

_The Akatsuki have joined with Orochimaru. He no longer desires possession of my body so has traded me to them. I was sent with Orochimaru-sama to investigate the aftermath of the battle between Itachi and Naruto. No traces remain of either, but there was a strong trace of another's chakra leading to and from the site. We suspect someone from your village. Orochimaru believes it to be a Hyuuga – I do not know why. Watch their compound closely. They have the secret of the Sharingan now and he will come after it. _

_Sasuke_

He thought about adding something at the end – maybe a "I'm sorry I left" or "I didn't want him to die" – but decided that neither sentiment was true. He did, however, wish to return to Konoha, even if it was under parole. There was nothing left for him to do at this point, so honoring Naruto's last wishes and going back to that place seemed like the only goal he could possibly still have.

Maybe he would talk to Sakura a bit more. She never seemed as bad as this lack of purpose he felt now, even in his worst memories of her. Final words settled on, he leant down to write a short note to the pink-haired girl. Hopefully, she wasn't already taken, although he wasn't sure he would care if she was. Just another possible hope down the drain. The Uzumaki had other plans though. Before he could manage more than her name, the winds shifted just enough to break the already thin window and send sliver shooting into him. The parchment ripped out of his hand and was gone almost as quickly, so the blood dripping off him from the stinging cuts didn't even manage to stain the letter.

In an instant, the sand piled into the room, cutting into his skin. Behind him, his current guardian, Kisame, opened the door and watched in annoyance as the wind began to work at the wall surround where the window had been. If only they'd been able to capture that boy before, when he didn't have such an understanding of his chakra. Maybe then the Akatsuki would contain this vast power.

Maybes didn't do anything for him though, and as one of the eight remaining Akatsuki, he understood that. What he had now was Sasuke, someone who might or might not turn into an acceptable replacement for the man lost. If it proved to be the latter, they would steal the Sharingan and continue their mission for power. Perhaps they'd let Sasuke have some other pair of eyes so he could watch them.

The grey-skinned man's eyes narrowed, contorting his face to seem even more shark-like than usual. He studied Sasuke, who had to be aware of his presence, yet didn't turn away from the punishing winds. From the angle he was viewing the scene from, he could just barely see the boy's expression. One maybe that did him even less good than all the others was the most tempting one. Maybe he should just kill Sasuke and let him die with that peaceful expression on his face.

That maybe was quickly squashed, and he grabbed Sasuke's wrist.

"Come on," he found himself muttering, though through the howling of the chakra driven winds, the final remnant of the fox-demon, he doubted even Sasuke's acute hearing would pick up his words, "We need to find new shelter. The Uzumaki's aren't supposed to leave until tomorrow. They'll be heading for the Mist after that, and'll probably pick up some mud, so we can't go in that direction."

Kisame pulled, but the body attached to the arm he was holding refused to budge. Snarling, he jerked Sasuke back. He hated to gritty feeling of the sand, and hated not being able to carry his sword because of it. Having a chakra-eating sword normally came in handy, but it was dangerous to handle if it got too much chakra. Bringing it out in weather like this wasn't an option then.

Sasuke turned then and shook his head. Using what few hand-signs he knew, he managed to pass on his message to his guardian. _The Uzumaki is going back to the Fire Country. It's going to be leaving soon._

As his hands flipped through the last of the gestures, the wind died down and retreated to where it came from. Kisame's gaze flicked between the dark-haired boy in front of him and the growing distance between the Uzumaki and himself. Had it been anyone else, he would have been suspicious, but from the very beginning, when the Kyuubi's chakra first exploded and tons of dust into the sky, blocking out the sun's light and creating the Uzumaki, Sasuke had been able to read the winds' path far better than any other, provided he was close to them. When he got right up next to him, he became someone else – someone Kisame thought might be like how Itachi had been at that age: quiet, calm, and content to let his mind go. After those moments, Sasuke always wore a strange smirk that on anyone else might be called a smile.

Something about Sasuke made the winds talk to him, and Kisame hated him for that along with the thousands of other reasons a person could possibly have for hating another. Somewhere within those whispers and biting blows, hid Itachi's final moments. Those were seconds only Sasuke could know. They were seconds that Kisame should have been able to remember – he'd been there damn it! – but couldn't.

Right now, he couldn't allow that hatred to rule him though. He had to be the cool one now. Sasuke could be the one always eager to get into the fight. Among the Akatsuki it was well known that Itachi had always been the one in charge of the missions. The man had time and time again proven to be capable of thinking clearly and rationally when Kisame could not. The missing-nin had accepted that, and life had continued.

This time, however, he would not allow a similar thing to happen. He would prove to be far more collected than Sasuke, and so, even if Sasuke became his teammate, the boy wouldn't get ahead of him. Sasuke would never get a chance to fill in his brother's position, because Kisame would take that away from him before the boy ever knew it was there.

Finally forcing down his urge to yank Sasuke's arm off, Kisame nodded. "Then we'll go back to the Lightning Country the shorter way. Our hostage there is being difficult."

Sasuke nodded. He'd heard a lot about their hostage, and though he was never told the name directly, he had a good idea as to the hostage's identity. It would be nice to meet up with the Sand's newest Kazekage again. The last time they'd met, he didn't think he'd made a very good impression. Sasuke snorted. Not that it mattered what Gaara thought of him. He was just glad to be going somewhere, doing something.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

A candle flared within the darkness of her chamber. Not that it was really hers, but no one else ever bothered to make the long descent down below the Hyuuga compound. Pale violet eyes flitted across the room, inspecting the chakra around her. No different. That was good. That meant that no one knew about her mission.

She was supposed to be at a friend's house tonight, but she'd begged off, saying that her father wanted her to train with her sister instead. She hadn't bothered to inform her father of this development.

Instead, she brushed a tendril of dark hair away from her eyes and studied the body in front of her. It was carefully preserved to keep the blood fresh and usable. She laughed, a nervous sound that seemed to be swallowed up by the oppressive air pervading the room. She would be getting a great deal of power tonight, and with that power she would copy as many jutsus as possible. Without needing to spend hours at a time to learn a new skill, she would have more time to dissect the abilities. Then, once she'd learned enough, she would bring _him_ back.

Hinata glanced over at Naruto's body, which she'd preserved even more carefully than Itachi's. For just a moment, it seemed that he was breathing, and she hurried closer. At the last second though, she tripped, and when she regained her balance, he wasn't moving. She glared at Itachi's body as if the mirage was its fault somehow and walked back over to it with a faint swishing of her robes.

"This – this is very important," she murmured to herself as she drew a kunai from a holder at the missing-nin's side. "I have to – have to bring Naruto-kun back. He's helped me so much and I – I've never helped him any." She smiled softly, cutting away the skin near the eyes and collecting the blood that flowed out. "I'll bring him back, even if it takes forever."

Only a hundred feet above her, the Uzumaki swirled restlessly amidst a row of houses. It wanted to leave, but it couldn't before delivering the message. Finally, when no ANBU guards turned up to collect the note, it folded in on itself and started down the streets, careful not to wreck any of the houses. The people inside watched with a vague disinterest and returned to their lives.

The Uzumaki made it as far as the Hokage's sleeping quarters before anyone thought to stop it. Shizune was waiting in front of the door, hand out to catch the letter. It threw out the paper and disappeared out a window. Shizune watched it for only a few seconds – enough time to notice the spark of fire burning in its nucleus – and shook her head. Rather than think too hard on the mystery that was the Uzumaki, she opened the note.

She ran through the door. Even Tsunade-sama couldn't sleep through this.

ooooooooooooooooo

Author's Note: So! I'm back again with a whole new story. If you remember Sakura Trees, you might remember the bit of OOCness I had. All right – the couple tons of it I had. This fic will hopefully prove itself to be slightly better. Other than that though . . . I'm doing a Sasuke-centric fic this time. It's based off of both the idea of a nuclear winter and the story Under the Shadow of the Moon. (Don't bother to look for similarities. If there are any, they're purely coincidental. The connection between the two is very loose.)


	2. II

Sasuke wasn't sure what he was expecting from the Wave Country, but the wind ravaged world in front of him wasn't it. He hadn't seen anywhere but the very southernmost countries until now, and the Uzumaki had yet to reach them, traveling along a spiraling path as it did. He knew, of course, that others considered the Uzumaki dangerous, even the Akatsuki. It just hadn't occurred to him to wonder why.

Looking at what was once the prosperous Wave Country village before him, he realized that what Orochimaru had whispered upon their first appearance was true: they were the remnants of the Kyuubi's power. However much they might act like a spirit form of Naruto, the creature that had resided within him was definitely their source of power. Sasuke glanced next to him, gauging Kisame's reaction. The grey-skinned man didn't seem entirely surprised. Most likely he knew how fierce the winds could be from personal experience some time before he'd taken Sasuke from Orochimaru.

In the months since they'd been released, the Uzumaki had completely destroyed the Wave Country. Stone monuments erupting from the water were the only remnants of the bridge he remembered fighting Haku on. That bridge . . . had been special. That was the first time he'd ever considered Naruto a friend. Maybe that was why the bridge was gone now. Sasuke smirked, an expression that seemed to be forced there out of lack of a more acceptable expression for what he was feeling.

He poled the boat forward slowly, taking in each new disaster revealed by the parting mist. As he continued, his mind changed, and the smirk dropped. A glare took its place. This couldn't be Naruto's doing. He would never let the Kyuubi attack this bridge. Tazuna had named it after him! It was important to him. Sasuke wondered, not for the first time, if the Uzumaki hadn't just thrown his letter away for anyone who liked to find it.

"Oi! Is that you Sasuke?"

Sasuke's head snapped up. His eyes darted instinctively to Kisame, who nodded. What did he care if the idiot wanted to talk to an old geezer? Sasuke jumped out of the boat and ran just slightly above the water to where Tazuna was standing on the remains of the bridge. A crew was working at rebuilding it. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. The sight was too familiar. "Tazuna-san? The Uzumaki hit you?"

The bridge-builder laughed, a rich full sound that surprised the black-haired boy in front of him. "Yeah – guess Naruto's up to his old tricks, eh?"

Sasuke didn't get it.

Noticing this, Tazuna spread his arms to indicate the surrounding bridge. "After the bridges were built, the village decided they didn't need me anymore, so I've been a bit broke lately. Ever since the Uzumaki's came though, the people have been climbing over each other to get me to build a bridge for them. Supposedly, if I build a bridge, the winds will spare it. I don't really know where they got that idea from." Despite professing to be clueless about the rumors' point of origin, he jerked his head towards Inari, a few feet away. The boy'd grown much taller in the past few years. As Sasuke watched, Inari seemed to be talking about the Uzumaki, judging by the swirling gestures he made with his hands.

Smirking, Sasuke nodded. "Ah. I'm glad you're doing well." A thought occurred to him. There was a place he would like to visit – a place that had been special to Naruto. He opened his mouth, perhaps to ask Tazuna about it, but it shut again without a sound. He didn't want anyone following him there, and Kisame undoubtedly would if he went the normal way. Instead, he smiled and disappeared with a spray of mist. A few yards away, Kisame cursed.

Only a few hundred yards away, Sasuke found Zabuza's grave still exactly as it'd been the last time he'd seen it. Except. . . . He frowned, studying the sword. New words were etched into the smooth metal. His name, in rough kanji lettering. Sasuke reached out and ran a thumb over the characters. A brief flicker of chakra ran across his skin, which promptly broke out in goosebumps. He knew that chakra even better than his own. It was the chakra that he'd unconsciously been chasing after since feeling it for the first time.

"Sasuke. . . ."

Kisame wasn't sure what to make of the picture. Itachi had always appreciated this sort of scene – the elder Uchiha probably would have etched this one into his memory, as Sasuke was the focus. No golden rays of sunlight fell down upon the boy's shoulders as he caressed the sword gently. No blood ran down the blade, and no tears dripped from Sasuke's eyes. Nevertheless, there was something very holy and almost tragic about the image before him. Although he'd very rarely understood Itachi's fascination with other people's minds and emotions, he thought he could at least respect it now. Some inner working of Sasuke's was at fault for this scene – that much he was sure of, and for just an instant he felt the urge to dig through the boy's mind and find it. The moment passed, and Sasuke looked up at him. Kisame turned his head away with a grimace. Weird things kept happening around that boy. The sooner he could get rid of him, the better.

"We're going. Take the sword and hurry up," he muttered gruffly. He wasn't going to bother with any boat this time – not if the kid was going to run off like that every time he got a bit of a break.

Sasuke seized the handle of the blade; it was rough, like Kisame's sword, but at the same time felt good against his skin, like it'd been made with him in mind. His hand clenched unconsciously then eased its death grip. Sasuke stood, leaving the sword behind him as he dashed after Kisame. A part of his mind sighed with relief, but it didn't relax completely. Just knowing the sword was there was enough for now, but how much longer would that last?

Sasuke turned back only once as they left the Wave Country, eyes hardening. Mixed with the tang of salt and smoke and food cooking and god-knew-what-else the breeze carried resided a hint of sand and chakra. The Uzumaki had delivered his letter – given a little bit of time, it would be here again, and at that point would come the final test for the village. If Tazuna's bridge stood, the Wave would revive. If not, it wouldn't.

"Sasuke, where's that sword?" Kisame asked as they ran on, over the water the separated them from the Lightning Country. He didn't really have to ask – he thought that in some respects, Sasuke was probably similar to his brother, but he was curious. Not whether Sasuke's reason was the same as Itachi's, but whether he would admit to it. Kisame was almost positive that he wouldn't, and he wanted to know what excuse, if any, he would come up with.

Sasuke glanced at Kisame. He stared straight ahead, fists clenched, although that would only lead to inconvenient cramps that might not wait until he was back on dry land to hit. "You knew him," he muttered.

A smirk crept across Kisame's face. Yes, he had known him. However, he really didn't know this younger boy at all.

The two shadows flew over the water, leaving only small ripples behind.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Early morning sun shone through the doorway when the girl stumbled through it, wondering briefly if she'd just now opened it, or if she'd somehow left it open the entire night. The ground she fell upon, skin blistering in the sunlight as if she were not meant to exist in the bright cheeriness day exuded, was scarred. Engraved into the arid dirt were hundreds of small C's, sometimes connecting into a spiral pattern, other times skipping several feet to create a new patch of desert in the middle of the garden. A faint, burnt smell lingered behind. This was the first section of Konoha to be damaged by the whirlwinds. Hinata didn't notice. She instead opted for screaming in agony as she attempted to drag herself back into the safe shadow of the doorway.

She succeeded, but not before her skin had cracked and begun pouring out the blood she'd worked so hard to mix with her own. Stubbornly, she forced her chakra to heal her and leaned against the door frame, breathing heavily. This wouldn't work, she realized as cold air escaped past her into the afternoon heat. Naruto's body needed to be kept cool, or the jutsu and preservatives would be useless. Biting her lip as hard as she dared, she stood once more and pushed the door closed. She was left outside with only a few feet of shade.

For a fair number of hours, she simply rested, not caring that her absence was being missed. She'd already been gone for several more days than intended. One more wouldn't harm anything.

Eventually, though, she had to move. The sun was no longer in a good position for her. Hinata felt for the seal that would open the door, but left her hand hovering just above it. She had to leave this place sooner or later and begin the second part of her plan. Waiting any longer would only serve to make it that much harder to leave. Besides – the sooner she got back, the less likely it was that anyone would realize what she'd done.

That thought in mind, as well as the image of Naruto and her together, forced her away from the door. Immediately she jerked back as her skin tightened and crackled. Her eyes narrowed. Why was her body reacting this way to the sun?

Thinking got her nowhere, although now her strip of shade was noticeably smaller. Finally she sighed and thrust her arm into the light. Pain instantly assaulted her. Still she kept her arm steady, letting it redden and crack before her eyes. It didn't catch on fire. That was one useful piece of information: the burning process was merely sped up. Her eyes widened. She'd used a jutsu to accelerate the process of combining her blood with Itachi's. If that was the case, then perhaps everything was happening faster than it should be. Anxiously, she studied her hair, which she'd been ignoring up until that moment. Sure enough, it was almost an inch longer than it should have been.

She smiled and sat. Her legs were covered in cloth, so she could safely leave them in the sunlight. The jutsu would wear off before the sun could reach her face. Until then she would wait and begin training herself with the Sharingan.

Her eyes, normally a pale violet, turned white. In such a state she could easily see the flow of chkra through living things. That wasn't what she wanted, though. The Byakugen would not allow her to copy the jutsus required for her to bring Naruto back to life. Only Itachi's Sharingan would allow for that. She squeezed her eyes shut just long enough for the veins that stood out beside her eyes to recede. When her eyes flew back open, they were blood red.

Hinata gasped. A light breeze had been blowing before and her eyes had easily accepted the movement of the grass and leaves as unimportant and ignored it. Now though, her eyes focused on that movement and saw it slow down to the point where the world barely seemed to move. At the same time, everything seemed to be going by so fast that she thought she would loose her mind. Every move of a bird was recorded even before it happened, and she had the insane urge to jump up and fly.

More than that, she noticed something strange. While her Byakugen had spotted the strange chakra filling the air and wondered about it, the Sharingan recognized it. The Sharingan said that that chakra belonged to it as well as another. Hinata shut her eyes once more and released the Sharingan. She felt exhausted. Maybe the speed she used up her chakra had also been sped up, but somehow she didn't think that was the case. Most likely, her chakra would always slip away that quickly when she used the Sharingan. Her only defense would be to get more chakra.

"Hinata?"

The girl stood and spun around. No one there. Heart pounding, she turned back to test her skin again and gasped.

"Hey Hinata. You gonna hurry up and rescue me already?" Naruto's grin became mocking. "Or will you let me rot down there, now that you've got those eyes. You're like Sasuke now, aren't you? Going to betray me."

Hinata shook her head frantically and stepped towards the boy, ignoring the sting as her skin darkened and blood dripped out of the unhealed cracks in it. "N – no Naruto-kun! I – I . . . I want to help you!" her voice lowered, and her already red face burned even brighter. "I wouldn't . . . I couldn't betray you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled and pressed a light kiss against her forehead. "I know that. That's why you have to stand proudly and fight. Don't let anyone get in your way."

The pain retreated and the boy disappeared, letting Hinata fall softly to the ground. When she hit, she made no attempt to stand. They would find her, but the door was hidden. Only she could enter the room with Naruto's body. When they found her she would say she'd passed out as she was training. They would believe. After all, she was only Hinata. She wasn't an important member of the Hyuuga. She smiled. For once it was a blessing. Her unimportance would allow her to get away with saving her most important person.

Author's Note: Man, I just keep having ideas for stories… I had the awesomest idea for a village just a few days ago, but any characters using the jutsus I wanted would be instantly Mary Sues. I'm hoping I can reduce this some and manage to get it into this story. It'd be ever so much more useful than what I already had planned.

HELP NEEDED: beta reader, and information on how exactly Chidori works.


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